


You're Never Too Sick to Care

by notaverse



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, KAT-TUN (Band)
Genre: Gen, Illnesses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-02
Updated: 2011-10-02
Packaged: 2017-10-24 06:12:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/259961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notaverse/pseuds/notaverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt from Lin: <i>KAT-TUN + Pi, around the time when Jin was with high fever during Hokkaido con! and then falling sick again and diagnosed with gastroenteritis during the week of three recordings of CTKT. Word: Care. </i></p>
            </blockquote>





	You're Never Too Sick to Care

Jin's life is a rollercoaster of highs and lows, a stomach-churning ride of sharp corners and long, straight stretches where he's moving so fast, all he can do is hang on and keep going forward. It's hard to keep track of everything that happens, especially when KAT-TUN are on tour and the schedule's tight this year, so many shows crammed so close together with little breathing space in between. The one thing that does always stick with him is the care he receives from the people who love him.

Yamapi phones when KAT-TUN are in Hokkaido, on the final stop of the tour. It's a short conversation. Pi's got places of his own to be, got work that needs doing and he, at least, doesn't have a high fever getting in his way.

"It's only another couple of days," he says gently. "Then you can come home."

Jin curls around his pillow, trying to get comfortable on the latest in a long line of hotel beds, and wishes the phone didn't echo so much in his ears. Home feels like it's on another continent, not just another island. "Tell my family I don't want to be buried at sea."

"You say that every year when you get sick, and every year you survive no matter how many needles they stick in you. You'll live. Trust Dr. Aizawa."

"Maybe when you've actually been to med school," Jin groans. His mouth's uncomfortably dry, makes talking like taking bites out of a cake of sand. He can't remember whether or not he's still got a bottle of water in the fridge, but if he gets up to find out, he's not sure he'll make it all the way across the room. "How did you know I was sick, anyway?"

"Kame called to say you could do with hearing a voice from home. You've always got something to come back to, Jin. Come back knowing you tried your hardest and you'll have nothing to regret, okay?"

Jin's cracked lips twist into a smile. His best friend excels at comforting phrases like that, always seems to know the right thing to say. Jin can only say what he feels, but it doesn't always come out the way he wants it to and sometimes he wishes he hadn't said anything at all. Yamapi's words are heartfelt and that helps, warming Jin's heart in a way that has nothing to do with his fever. He's not at his best right now and everyone knows it, but he has the strength of his friends to compensate for his weakness and if he has that he's not afraid to try.

Things are worse when the concerts start. Jin stays behind for most of the afternoon encore and there's no encore at all for the first evening show. Making dirty jokes to titillate the fans isn't much compensation for his obvious lack of energy and he has to keep sitting down. Even backstage he's spending half his time in the bathroom, returning after each trip to worried faces and enquiries into his health. He tries not to be a burden - everyone is tired but they're all working hard, from the other members to the Juniors and all the support staff, each of them determined to make the shows a success. He doesn't want them to have to fuss over him, no matter how good it feels to sink onto soft cushions and let someone bring him ice water.

The suggestion that they skip the evening encore doesn't come from Jin. He's not sure whose it is, actually, because he was throwing up at the time, and when he returns he's feeling so wretched he'll agree to anything that involves him not going out under hot stage lights and pretending to be perky. He feels bad for the audience, who've paid good money to see them, and he hates that he's let the side down, but Kame hugs him when they leave the stage that night and lets him lean on his shoulder till they reach the dressing room and Jin can collapse, recover his strength before returning to the hotel.

"There's still time," Jin says feebly once he sits down. "The audience won't have left yet. You could go out and start 'She Said' and I'll join you in a couple of minutes."

"Forget it." Koki passes him a bottle of water, which Jin accepts gratefully. It feels like he's sweated out half his body weight in one day. "You'll be better tomorrow if you don't push yourself tonight."

"And we're all exhausted," Nakamaru points out. "I don't think I can move again now I've stopped."

Even Ueda's not his usual energetic self, dropping gracelessly to the couch to mop sweat from his brow. Junno's eyes are closed already.

Kame's holding an ice-cold bottle of his own against his forehead, body feverishly warm next to Jin's. He's been sick too, travelling around for Gokusen movie promotions, and while he's able to hide it better his health has also been a source of concern for them all during the tour. Crazy schedules might be Kame's bread and butter but he's not invulnerable and Jin certainly isn't.

"We've already decided no encore tonight," Kame says. "You're going straight back to the hotel and staying there to rest till it's time for work."

"You'll scare anyone if you go out without sunglasses, anyway," Koki adds. "Your eyes look like Ueda's been using you as a punchbag."

Ueda holds up a hand, not really paying attention. "I didn't do it."

"But...you guys have been covering for me all day," Jin protests, "and if we don't go out they'll be cross with all of us, and-"

"Then they'll just have to be cross with all of us," Kame says. "It's okay to lean on us when you're struggling. The six of us go together, right? We're not going to go anywhere you can't follow."

Jin knows Kame's not trying to make him feel guilty for LA; rather, it's reassurance that regardless of their solo activities and time spent apart from the group, the six of them are one when it counts and when one member is in trouble the others are always there to support him. It's part of what makes them a family, having grown up together for all these years. They don't have the kind of friendships where they need to see each other constantly, spend every second in each other's pockets, and with the way their schedules work out sometimes they only get together as a group every couple of weeks. But that's the great thing about family - you can go without seeing each other, or fight, and it doesn't matter because the bonds that keep you together are strong enough to withstand it.

Months after the tour has finished, Jin has occasion to call on those bonds again. When everyone else he knows is going down with flu, he gets floored by gastroenteritis and finds himself spending more time in the bathroom than anywhere else. Abdominal cramps keep him bedridden otherwise, too weak to move more than absolutely necessary and only sitting up straight so he doesn't spill drinks all over himself. Work is out of the question unless there's a director out there looking to cast a celebrity zombie in an entirely bed-based horror movie. (This being Japan, he doesn't rule it out.)

He knows he'll recover within the week but that doesn't make it any less excruciating when he has to call his manager and explain that he's sick - again - and won't be able to make it for _Cartoon KAT-TUN_ filming because he can't even leave his apartment right now, never mind drag himself to the studio. It's bad; they're supposed to be filming three episodes today and if he doesn't go, that's effectively three weeks he'll be absent for.

It's not that he does a tremendous amount in the studio, he has to admit, but it's important that he's _there_. Except right now the most he can do is make this one phone call, because he's hot and dizzy and aching and there's no way he can go in front of a camera like this. He'd like to phone the other members and apologise for letting them down, but that would take more concentration than he can spare at the moment and if he lets himself think about it he'll only feel worse.

His mother, when he eventually manages to contact her, tells him to drink lots of fluids and drops off enough bottles to last him through a siege. She's got an appointment and can't stay, though. Everyone's either busy or sick themselves, and Jin falls asleep alone, tired and empty.

He wakes up hours later to find Kame disposing of the empty bottles and opening windows to clear the stale, sickroom smell from the apartment. Kame has his spare key, gets a new one every time Jin moves to a new place because if no one can get hold of him on his ever-present phone it means he's either still asleep or he's too ill to answer. In either case, intervention is required.

Jin starts to sit up, to greet Kame, but his stomach lurches and he has to run to the bathroom before he can even say hello. It's embarrassing and he feels horrible when he emerges, but Kame doesn't care, just keeps on straightening up Jin's home like he lives there himself. Jin crawls back into bed, flattens himself against the pillows, and hopes he can open his mouth without anything other than words flowing out of it.

"Hey," he croaks.

Kame stops tidying, perches on the very edge of the bed with a taut wariness that says he's prepared to move any second if Jin shows signs of being about to vomit all over him. "Hi. I was going to ask if you were feeling better but I think I get the picture..."

"Better than I did this morning." Jin scratches his neck, feeling strands of hair that have come loose from the short ponytail. "If only because I don't think I've got anything left in my stomach. I wanted to call and say sorry, but..." He shrugs. "I fell asleep."

"You look like you could do with the rest." Kame gives him a comforting pat on the closest body part within reach, which happens to be his knee. "We didn't send mails because we thought the phone would disturb you, but everyone sends their best wishes for a quick recovery."

"Is that why you're here?"

Kame grins. "I'm here to stop you feeling guilty about not being able to work today. We said you were in LA, but your fedora was there to represent you."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. But they'll probably run some text on the screen to say you're ill. It'll be fine."

"It's not fine at all." Jin tips his head back and sighs. "You all had to cover for me again. I couldn't even show up and smile mutely for a couple of hours."

"Don't. It couldn't be helped. If you're sick, you're sick, and we've all known you long enough to know when you're faking and when you're really ill. We told you, didn't we? You're not doing this by yourself, Jin. None of us are."

Jin knows that's true when the mails start to flood in. Offers of assistance, queries about whether he's up for visitors, 'get well soon' messages. Kame reads them to him since his vision swims when he tries to look at the tiny text on his phone. Each one is like a tiny ray of sunshine piercing the cloud of gloom that's surrounded Jin all day.

"See?" Kame says later, when they've worked their way through all the mails and Jin's managed to go a full hour without running to the bathroom. "Everyone's lending you their support. We'll welcome you back with a smile when you're ready." He rises, looking around for his car keys.

"You're going?"

"It's late," Kame points out, tapping his watch. "I should let you get some rest. You look exhausted."

"I've looked exhausted since I woke up this morning." Jin doesn't want Kame to leave. It's nice to have someone fluffing his pillows, and helping him change into a fresh T-shirt, and soothing him through painful spasms with colourful chatter and careful hands. If Kame goes the apartment will be dark again, and Jin will be alone.

But then he remembers that Kame was working today before he came over to Jin's apartment, and he probably hasn't had a chance to eat or do anything for himself all day. Kame will be working tomorrow, too, which is by no means guaranteed for Jin. It would be selfish to ask him to stay.

Kame evidently picks up on Jin's indecision because he offers to stay until Jin falls asleep. "But go to sleep quickly," he orders with a tired smile.

Jin gives it five minutes before faking a soft snore. He hears Kame laugh quietly to himself on his way out, not fooled for a moment. Sometimes, he can take care of Kame too, the way he used to when they were kids. Whatever else he forgets, he remembers every act of kindness, not just between the two of them but all his family, all his friends. That's a lot of memories to carry around with him, but it's okay - even though they have different weights, some light as air and others as heavy as a planet, they never weigh him down.


End file.
